Shortly after Angela Iannicelli first moved to Monhegan in 2004, she was asked to coordinate the island’s trash and recycling program. At that point, each bag of trash had to be stuffed into a small on-island compactor. Diapers, hypodermic needles, dog poop—all came up into employees’ faces. With no town-provided hepatitis shots and no-restrictions trash… Read more »
Islesboro Affordable Property (IAP) was founded in 1988 and is one of the oldest affordable housing groups on a Maine island. It is also among the few with a paid staff member—executive director Rick Rogers. HOW IT WORKS Initially, IAP built an 8-unit project, the Ruthie James Subdivision. IAP retained ownership of the land… Read more »
Monhegan Island Sustainable Community Association, or MISCA, is a combination of a land trust and an affordable housing organization. On Monhegan, where available land is at a premium, MISCA has largely attempted to renovate existing buildings, rather than build new ones, though it has purchased five houses and owns two buildable lots that it hopes… Read more »
Lyme disease was not identified until 1975 in Lyme, Connecticut, and it wasn’t until 1987 that Lyme disease was identified in Maine. Before the 1980s, you couldn’t even find ticks in the Pine Tree State. In 1989, however, the first case of Lyme on Monhegan Island was diagnosed. What made Monhegan such an odd case… Read more »
Committed to “building opportunity, community, and a future for Maine’s working waterfront,” Islesford Boatworks (IB) was started in 2006 by the Ravenhill family as a way to support Little Cranberry Island’s waterfront and share their passion for building traditional wooden boats with children living in the Mount Desert region. IB offers summer boatbuilding programs for… Read more »
Value-added food processing facilities—or community kitchens—provide affordable access for entrepreneurs, seafood harvesters, farmers, and other small business owners to kitchen facilities that would otherwise be financially inaccessible. In 1998, Will Hopkins started the Cobscook Bay Resource Center in Eastport, Maine with the goal of helping local resource users, scientific researchers, government agencies, educators, and… Read more »
For a new grower, developing a good relationship with the surrounding community can be both important and difficult. There are many real and perceived conflicts that can arise with individuals including riparian/waterfront landowners, fishermen and recreational users, environmental advocates, and even other aquaculturists. If unaddressed, in the short-term, these conflicts can slow the process of acquiring… Read more »